There are poems and songs praising the beautiful month of May. In German it is even described as the « Wonnemonat », a month of extreme joy. It is also a month with many public holidays and commemorative days.
For our institute, the focus is of course on 9 May, Europe Day. On this day in 1950, the then Foreign Minister of France, Robert Schuman, gave a speech that went down in history as the Schuman Declaration. It is considered the founding act of the EU. Its aim was to secure long-term peace in Europe by creating a supranational organisation, the European Coal and Steel Community. Thus, another war between France and Germany was to be « not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible ».
We do not know whether this historical background influenced the contents of the « Fête de l’Europe » of our Institute’s home town, Angers (probably not). But, besides space (through an exhibition of photos by Thomas Pesquet and a conference on space stations), the Franco-German relationship is one of the focal points of this year’s events with photo exhibitions, conferences and film projections.
You can find the full programme via this link:
http://www.angers.fr/l-action-municipale/relations-internationales/angers-fete-l-europe/index.html
